Financial Schools Reviews

Robert Hort is 64, an age when many investors start to slow down a bit — at least when it comes to where they put their money. Bonds begin to look more appealing than stocks, and cash looks like a safer bet than bonds.

So where is Hort, a business owner from suburban New York City, putting a chunk of his savings? Into some of the spookiest stuff on the market, such as junk bonds and commercial real estate.

“They help me sleep at night,” says Hort.

For many investors, only a dose of sleeping pills would provide rest with a portfolio like that. But at a time when Hort should be thinking about safeguarding assets for retirement, he seems to be amping up his risk.

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I just wanted to mention something that I think is a great value for those of you who own a Wii or a PlayStation 3 – you can now get a free Netflix streaming app from the app store on your console. If you have a Wii, just visit the Nintendo Store; if you have a PS3, it should have magically appeared in the Video section of your system menu.

Netflix streaming is pretty much replacing cable for us at this point. For $9 a month, you get access to a huge library of titles that you can watch at your convenience, plus you get new releases in the mail on DVD (or BluRay, if you have a PlayStation 3). T

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() - German businesses are increasingly confident about the economy since last spring, results of a survey conducted by the German Chamber of Industry and Trade showed Wednesday.

Economic development is on solid ground and companies plan to recruit vigorously. “The recovery is self-supporting,” DIHK managing director Martin Wansleben said.

Given the favorable conditions, the business body revised up its forecast for 2010 German economic growth to 3.4% from 2.3%. It also predicted 2.4% growth for next year.

The survey was based on responses from more than 28,000 companies.

This is one question that, in some form or another, keeps popping up time and time again in all sorts of contexts.

Should I buy a computer now, or should I wait for prices to come down?

Should I buy a new television now, or should I wait for the bigger screens to become available?

From cars to cell phones to woodworking equipment, these questions are asked about major purchases that many of us make.

Whenever I’m asked the question, though, I respond with another:

Do you actually need the thing?

If the answer is yes – that this item fulfills a need in your life that isn’t already fulfilled – then you should be shopping around now rather than waiting for prices to drop.

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Ralph Norris, chief executive of Australian banking major CBA signalled during a speech on Thursday that the lender would be the first to raise its interest rates. In his speech, Mr. Norris cited higher funding costs and said that interest rate increases had become inevitable.

“There is no doubt, when we look at the current funding costs, rates are going to increase. The additional cost of liquidity and the additional cost of capital is going to put upward pressure on interest rates going forward.” Mr. Norris said during a speech given at lunch hosted by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.

Mr. Nor

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